Viridian Green
by NephilimEQ
Summary: Castiel, in the comfort of not being seen, stared at Dean Winchester. Sometimes he did this not because he was spying, but simply because he wanted to be able to stare at the hunter without being lectured on the fact that staring at people was considered rude, or downright weird. Honestly, the angel had a good reason.
**Viridian Green**

Castiel, in the comfort of not being seen, stared at Dean Winchester. Sometimes he did this not because he was spying, but simply because he wanted to be able to stare at the hunter without being lectured on the fact that staring at people was considered rude, or downright weird. Honestly, the angel had a good reason.

He liked to look at Dean's eyes.

They were the most fascinating shade of green that he'd ever seen.

When Castiel had first met him, they reminded him of a field in the wilds of Colorado that grew lush and green, absolutely wild and completely untouched by human kind since it had been created by his Father's hand. However, since that first meeting, those eyes seemed to have changed. And he couldn't quite pinpoint what exactly had changed.

There was a softness to them, now, even when he was angry. Just a hint of another color, one that he couldn't quite define. His eyes were still green, but there was something changed about the way that they looked at the world around him, and at how he looked at Cas. As if their first meeting had caused something elemental in the hunter to shift and suddenly see the world in a whole new light…but Cas knew that that couldn't be the truth.

It had to be something else. Something simple.

He knew all of human language, but for some reason the name of the color of Dean's eyes escaped him. They were _green_ , but they were more than that.

Feeling frustrated, he went through every shade of green he could think of, going alphabetically, images flashing through his head as he vainly tried to find that _one_ shade that told him what color the hunter's eyes were. The A's were first, obviously: Acapulco green, algae green, aloe green, amazon green, apple green, aqua green, aquamarine green, army green, asparagus, avocado, and so on. Amid the B's, there was beryl and bottle green, but they were too bright for what he could see in Dean's eyes.

Celery, citrus…not even close. Dolly green…no, that wasn't it. Elm, emerald, eucalyptus. Fern, fir, forest. Grass, honeydew, hunter, ivy, jade, jasper, jungle, juniper…none of them were near what he could see. He kept going, only pausing on the ones that he deemed close. Kelly, laurel green, malachite, myrtle, Neptune green. Olive, oregano, pea, peridot, pine. Racing green. And then, of course, there was sage, sea green, shamrock, spruce, teal…no, that one was too blue.

Then there was verdigris, vert, vienna, viridian…

Wait a second.

Viridian.

Castiel's eyes lingered on Dean's, and he smiled to himself as he realized that he had just found the shade of green that defined his hunter's eyes.

They were green, but they existed on the edge of blue. And then that was when it occurred to him…was it possible that Dean's eyes seemed to be viridian because Castiel saw them through his vessel's blue eyes, instead of from his celestial wavelength as he had _before_ the two of them had met?

It sounded completely ridiculous…and yet Castiel clung to it.

The idea that his blue could affect Dean's green...something about it caused a strange sensation in the region of his chest, and he couldn't quite explain what it was.

Unsure of what to make of the feeling, he ignored it and instead focused on the fact that he now knew what shade of green his hunter's eyes were. Viridian. He stared longer, memorizing every detail, including the fain flecks of gold that showed up at unexpected times, usually when he was surprised by someone or something.

Viridian.

Castiel inwardly chuckled at the irony of the word. Even though the color was the first shade of green that stepped over into part of the blue spectrum, the word it was derived from was the Latin word for green itself, _viridis._ Roughly translated, he was calling Dean's eyes _green_ green, even though they weren't. They had the hint of blue that Castiel felt came from his own unique perspective. Perhaps to someone with brown eyes, they were more of a muddy green, or to someone with green eyes, like Dean, they were simply…green.

But to Castiel, they were much more than that.

Those viridian green eyes had seen too much. They had seen Hell itself, and witnessed too many friends and family dying.

What Castiel would give to bring them all back for him; to show him that everything that they had died for hadn't been in vain. That Jo and her mother shared a Heaven of a happy Sunday morning with Jo's dad, where they all sat in the kitchen eating breakfast together. How Jimmy Novak's soul was sharing a home with his wife, both of them happier in their Heaven then they ever could have been on Earth.

Castiel longed to show that to Dean…but he knew that it wouldn't be enough. That even if he did, those viridian eyes would cloud over in doubt and anger, all directed inwardly, and that it would only make Dean feel like he was the cause of all the pain, when in truth, he wasn't.

Cas lingered a little while longer. Suddenly, Dean called his name, forcing him to reveal himself.

"Dean," he said, appearing in the room in his customary fashion. "You called?"

Dean nodded.

"Yeah, Cas. I called. Looks like we got ourselves a situation. Some teenage witch has decided to take out her emotional issues on her graduating class. We could use some help. Care to join us?"

Cas nodded.

"Of course, Dean. I am always pleased to help in any way that I can."

And with those words, he saw Dean's eyes brighten, and Castiel once more felt a tightening in his chest. These were the eyes that he loved the most. He didn't know what they meant, but he'd seen the look in the past and he had always found it to be his favorite shade of the hunter's eyes. Bright and looking at him with something akin to affection, similar to the look that he gave his brother, Sam, but with much more intimacy, somehow.

Dean gave him another nod.

"Always good to have you, man."

The hunter gave him a faint smile, while Cas continued to stare.

Viridian.

Such a perfect color.

* * *

 **THE END**

 **A.N. - Written for the Castiel Color Challenge on Tumblr. This one was such a joy to write!**


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